WA lithium miner backs US giant’s $6.6 billion takeover bid, sparks unusual trading activity
The board of Australian lithium developer Liontown Resources has backed a refreshed $6.6 billion (USD 4.3 billion) bid from US company Albemarle Corp., the world’s largest lithium producer. Since then, Liontown has seen a massive spike in trading, with speculation about it being linked to Australia’s richest person.
SunCable sale complete, company lays out more subdued project scope
SunCable’s sale to Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures has today been completed, with the company flagging new project elements, including a subsea cable manufacturing and testing facility, as well as reiterating its vision of delivering bulk energy to Singapore via undersea cables.
NSW raises coal royalties, adding $2.7b to future budget
New South Wales has increased its coal royalty scheme for the first time since 2009 in a move that is expected to boost the state’s budget by more than $2.7 billion (USD 1.72b) from 2024 to 2028.
‘First time’: solar system prices trend into new territory, leads diverge from customers proactivity
For the first time, 10 kW solar systems have now become cheaper than the 6.6 kW range on a per kilowatt basis, SunWiz analysis has found. Plus, solar lead generation is up even though fewer customers are proactively searching for systems.
Emissions reduction in Australia 30 times too slow for Paris targets, ‘green growth’ a myth
A new study assessing 11 high-income countries, including Australia, has found they are not reconciling their growth-based economic systems with actual, timely emissions reductions.
Low-cost, ‘graphene-enhanced’ perovskite solar cells to be produced in funded Wagga Wagga project
Two Australian companies working in solar R&D have been awarded over $2 million (USD 1.3 million) for a project seeking to commercialise ultra-low-cost, flexible perovskite solar cell fabrication. The solar cells will be “graphene-enhanced” and are to be produced in Halocell’s Wagga Wagga plant in NSW.
JA Solar to build 5 GW of cell capacity in Vietnam
GCL Technology Holdings Limited reported strong revenue for the first half of 2023, while JA Solar says it will invest CNY 2.72 billion ($578.7 million) in 5 GW of N-type solar cell capacity in Vietnam.
New funding deal sees focus shift for Marinus Link
The initial capacity of the proposed Marinus Link transmission project, that would connect Tasmania and the Australian mainland via an undersea electricity interconnector, has been reduced by 50% as part of new funding arrangements announced by the federal and state governments.
MPower starts building after purchase of 5 MW Narromine project completed
Construction is to commence immediately on a 5 MW solar project being developed at Narromine in western New South Wales as Australian renewable energy developer MPower’s continues to progress its mid-scale solar strategy.
Snowy Hydro plans contract reset amid $12 billion cost blowout
Snowy Hydro has revealed the budget for the Snowy 2.0 project has blown out to $12 billion (USD 7.8 billion) and the giant pumped hydro storage project is now expected to commence operations seven years later than originally scheduled.
